Leaving the shackles behind
by WolfKomoki
Summary: All his life, Prince Emrys of Esgard has known one thing: royalty. All his life he's been put up on a pedestal. He's expected to be prim and proper, to be the future king of Esgard, to marry a princess and produce an heir. One day Prince Emrys runs away to the kingdom of Camelot and develops a new identity: Merlin the serving boy.


Merlin is owned by The BBC.

All his life Prince Emrys of Esgard has known one thing: royalty. All his life he's been put up on a pedestal. He's expected to be prim and proper, to be the future king of Esgard, to marry a princess, and produce an heir. It's a lot of yes sir, no sir, yes ma'am, no ma'am. He hates being a prince, why did it have to be him? Plenty of princes are completely fine with being forced to live a destiny, Emrys is not. Which is why he's currently in his chambers, changing into his servant's clothes. No one would notice a mere serving boy leaving the kingdom, and that's why it's perfect.

He stares at the map in front of him, choosing his new home. After several minutes of looking he decides on one kingdom: Camelot. Camelot was six kingdoms away, surely, he wouldn't be recognized as a prince. He goes down to the stables and gets on the horse that looks like something a peasant would be able to afford. He'd packed enough food for a week's journey. He wouldn't need much more than that. He rides out at night, using his magic to light the way. He didn't choose to have magic, he was born with it. While the people of Esgard have never openly _said_ that they were against a prince that had magic, Emrys could tell that they weren't fond of it either.

The journey to Camelot took a week, and Emrys was exhausted. Just as he suspected, no one recognized him when he walked into Camelot. He frowns when he sees someone being dragged by guards to a wooden square.

"Let this serve as a lesson to all. This man, Thomas James Collins, is adjudged guilty of conspiring to use enchantments and magic. And, pursuant to the laws of Camelot, I, Uther Pendragon, have decreed that such practices are banned on penalty of death. I pride myself as a fair, and just king, but for the crime of sorcery, there is but one sentence I can pass." Uther says. Emrys frowns. _This is going to be a problem_. Well, he wanted a new life, he'll have to get used to the laws here. Emrys's face pales when the ax chops the man's head off. If he's not careful, that could happen to him.

He knew he couldn't buy a luxurious house, not as a peasant. He ends up finding a basic house in the lower end of town. The house was nothing like he was used to. It was quaint, small, and he loved it. No more heirs, no more destiny, he can finally just be. When he walks outside, he's greeted by a very attractive woman.

"I'm Guinevere though most people call me Gwen? What's your name?" She asks.

"Uh Merlin. My name is Merlin." Emrys answers. He can't very well call himself by his _real_ name, they'd know he was a prince.

"Well, Merlin it's nice to meet you. Are you from around here? I don't think I've seen you before." Gwen asks.

"Uh, no. I just got into town." Merlin says. It was going to be tough creating a backstory for "Merlin" but if he really wants to commit to this role, then he'll do it. The only problem? Creating a believable backstory. Peasants wouldn't know how to read or write. They wouldn't know several languages. They wouldn't know proper etiquette, and they certainly wouldn't know how to handle a sword. The reading thing he could easily explain. Some peasants had friends that were of a higher status than they were, and as such they would teach them to read. _That could work, couldn't it?_

"Well then, allow me to welcome you to Camelot. You'll love it here." Gwen says. Merlin nods.

"Do you know where I could get supplies around here? I'm famished." He asks.

"Oh, there's a village market. I can take you." Gwen smiles. Merlin smiles. There's no way that Gwen would realize that he's Emrys, surely?

"Yeah, that would be nice. You can show me around." Merlin smiles as he follows Gwen to the market. When they get there, Merlin is surprised by the number of apples that were gone.

"Oh, they're having a sale on apples. Better hurry before they're all gone." Gwen says as she grabs some for herself. Merlin chuckles and grabs a handful of them, putting them in the bag he found as he grabs more fruit to put inside. As Emrys, he could buy a lot more apples than he currently has, but as Merlin, he wouldn't be able to afford the things he could have. _Being a peasant is harder than I thought._

After paying for the stuff in silver coins, Merlin returns to his house as he eats the apples. He sighs. He really needs to find a job if he's going to survive as a peasant. Yeah, as Emrys he doesn't need one, but Emrys is supposed to be missing, so he can't just go wild with his spending. After he finished eating the apples, Merlin decides to visit the Court Physician. He'd always suffered from nightmares as a child, and at home he was given an elixir to help ease his nightmares. The only problem? It was laced with magic.

Could they recreate it here without magic? He just didn't know. When he gets to the physician's room, his eyes widened as he falls off the ladder. Without thinking, he uses his magic to slow down time as he moves the mattress under him, watching as he falls on the mattress. The physician screams as he falls onto the mattress.

"What did you just _do_?" He asks. Merlin freezes.

"I… nothing!" He says.

"That wasn't nothing, that was _magic_! Where did you learn it?" The physician demands. Merlin was starting to panic.

" _Nowhere_!" He exclaims.

"Don't _lie_ to me boy!" The physician warns.

"I'm not. I'm telling you the truth!" Merlin says.

"Well, you must have learned it somewhere!" The physician insists.


End file.
